17 December 2014

CAPE TOWN: After more than 30 years into the HIV/AIDS pandemic, a vaccine remains elusive—and much needed. Globally, about 35 million people are living with HIV, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS or UNAIDS. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to two-thirds of all people living with HIV/AIDS and the main driver is unprotected heterosexual sex. The only HIV-vaccine clinical trial that has shown potential so far is the United States’ and Thai military’s vaccine, RV144, the results of which were announced in 2009.

The first in a series of trials designed to build on the success of RV144 has now passed a key test in South Africa. A safety trial using the same vaccine regimen from RV 144—but with an added booster shot 12 months afterward—has has shown to be safe for South Africans and demonstrated “robust” immune responses. A successful safety trial was necessary to move forward with extensive clinical research. The research was first presented in late October by South African scientists in Cape Town. Clinical trials of a modified vaccine tailored to Southern Africa will begin in early 2015.

Southern Africa desperately needs such a vaccine. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to two-thirds of all people living with HIV/AIDS and the main driver is unprotected heterosexual sex, according to the Joint United-Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, or UNAIDS. South Africa has the unfortunate distinction of claiming the world’s highest HIV/AIDS burden, with an estimated 6.3 million people living with HIV/AIDS. New infections, called seroconversions, are increasing at about 370,000 per year in that region. That’s about 1,000 new infections every day. About 20 percent of South African adults—that’s one in five people—are living with the virus, reports UNAIDS. Young women are twice as likely to be infected as young men.

HIV R4P 2014 Cape Town was the world's first and only scientific meeting dedicated exclusively to biomedical HIV prevention research.

HIVR4P and the international media fellowship were sponsored by an international consortium that has pooled resources to "speed the development of a safe and effective HIV vaccine." The consortium includes the USA, Thailand and South African governments, the European Union, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UNAIDS, World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Controls and Prevention, GlaxoSmithKline, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, Merck, Novartis, USAID, Sanofi Pasteur, the largest company in the world devoted to vaccine development.

14 January 2014

"Dozens" of gay men have reportedly been arrested in northern Nigeria under an extreme anti-gay law that bans same-sex relationships and membership in pro-gay organizations, according to human rights activists quoted by the Associated Press. The arrested men face sentences of up to 14-years in prison. At least four men say they were tortured.

The arrests happened in northern Bauchi state which is predominately Muslim. The news comes one day after it was confirmed that President Goodluck Jonathan signed the bill in secret on January 7.

In Bauchi state, police entrapped four gay men and tortured them into naming others, said Dorothy Aken'Ova, executive director of Nigeria's International Center for Reproductive Health and Sexual Rights. She said the police have drawn up a list of 168 wanted gay men, of whom 38 have been arrested in recent weeks.

The chairman of Bauchi state Shariah Commission, Mustapha Baba Ilela, told the AP that 11 men have been arrested in the past two weeks and charged with belonging to a gay organization. He denied anyone had been tortured and said all 11 — 10 Muslims and a non-Muslim — signed confessions that they belonged to a gay organization but that some of them retracted the statements when they were charged by a judge.

An AIDS counsellor told The Associated Press he helped get bail for the men and also said a total of 38 were arrested. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear he would be arrested. Aken'Ova's organization is providing legal services for them.

The legislation also bans same sex couples from living together, bans pro-LGBT websites or groups and prosecute their friends or human rights activists. The new law is expected to be extremely "popular" and should help President Jonathan's 2015 re-election campaign, adds The Guardian.

The draconian anti-gay legislation is likely to undermine Nigeria's fight against HIV/AIDS, according to UNAIDS and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

The new legislation ... will prevent gay people in the country from accessing essential HIV services, and is likely to spur further hatred of the LGBT community, the two organisations said.

Nigeria had an estimated 3.4 million people living with HIV in 2012, the world’s second largest HIV epidemic, they said. In 2010, HIV prevalence in Nigeria was estimated at 4 percent among the general population and 17 percent among men who have sex with men, UNAIDS said.

"The provisions of the new law in Nigeria could lead to increased homophobia, discrimination, denial of HIV services and violence based on real or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity," Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS executive director, said in a statement released on Tuesday.

Previous versions of the bill banned gays from meeting, living together, reading LGBT websites or even going out to dinner. The comprehensive anti-gay legislation was passed unanimously by Nigeria's House of Representatives in late May 2013. It later passed the Senate.

Same-sex acts are currently illegal in at least 38 of 54 African countries. Four nations—Mauritania, Nigeria, Somalia and Sudan—boast the death penalty for gays or same-sex activity. South Africa and Seychelles are the only African nations that protect LGBT rights. South Africa is the only African nation that mandates equal marriage.

01 December 2013

Making this year's list: The Food and Drug Administration has approved the antiretroviral medication Truvada to reduce the risk of HIV infection in uninfected individuals. That biomedical prevention strategy is known as pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP.

Truvada becomes the first medication ever to be approved for HIV prevention in adults, marking a major milestone in the 30-plus years of the global epidemic. But many questions remain around adherence, risk, access .. as well as the outrageous $14,000 annual price tag. Meanwhile, there are promising developments in the decades-long quest for an HIV vaccine.

Today is the 25th World AIDS Day, which is a global day of reflection and activism to raise awareness to the devastating HIV/AIDS epidemic.

After more than 30 years of the crisis, about 35 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS or UNAIDS. In the United States, about 1.1 million people are positive and nearly 50,000 people contract the virus each year—with African Americans and Latinos disproportionately affected. Men who have sex with men—especially African American, Caribbean, Latino and African men—are experiencing the highest increases in new infections both at home and across the globe.

"Due to a confluence of factors, young gay men are often left out of research, policy and programs that are designed for adult gay men, he general pool of youth, or the overall population." reports TheBody.com, the world's largest HIV/AIDS news and resource portal. "What is the current state of the global epidemic among young gay men and how do we address it?"

TheBody.com has created a clever infographic on the global MSM epidemic. Click to enlarge.

17 October 2013

BARCELONA: It's been more than 30 years since the start of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic that has claimed "an estimated 36 million deaths" and Blacks across the African Diaspora have been disproportionately impacted. There is finally some very promising news in HIV vaccine research.

A possible “breakthrough” was presented publicly for the first time at the 13th AIDS Vaccine Conference, which was held in Barcelona, Spain from October 7 to 10. Louis J. Picker, M.D.
associate director of the Vaccine & Gene Therapy Institute at
Oregon Health and Science University, presented research that
demonstrated vaccinated monkeys can clear simian immunodeficiency
virus—the monkey equivalent of HIV—from their bodies.

The vaccine was effective in nine of the 16 monkeys in the study. Picker originally published his research last month in the journal Nature.
“This is the first proof of concept that an AIDS-causing virus can be
eliminated by an immune response,” Picker said. The vaccine used cytomegalovirus as a platform. CMV is already found in most humans and belongs to the herpes virus family.

Picker is confident the vaccine could work in humans. "The stars are
aligned and we feel we have a very good shot. [It] also seems to work
for tuberculosis and we need a larger study to prove this.” Picker
estimates it could take “at least two years” to secure funding and
regulatory approval for Phase I clinical trials in humans.

AIDS Vaccine 2013 Barcelona has been described as the "world's
leading scientific meeting on HIV vaccine research" and was attended by more
than 1,000 leading researchers, funders and policy makers.

AIDS Vaccine 2013 Barcelona and my international media fellowship was sponsored the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise—the international consortium that has pooled resources to "speed the development of a safe and effective HIV vaccine." The Enterprise includes the USA, Thailand and South African
governments, the European Union, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UNAIDS, World
Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Controls and Prevention, GlaxoSmithKline, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, Merck, Novartis, USAID, Sanofi Pasteur, the largest company in the world
devoted to vaccine development.

07 October 2013

BARCELONA: The massive budget cuts undertaken by the Spanish government could lead to the "effective dismantling of large parts of its health-care system" and "could see increases in infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and the virus that causes AIDS," warned British researchers in a paper published by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine reported by Reuters.

The study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) found that Spain's national budget cuts of almost 14 percent and regional budget cuts of up to 10 percent in health and social services in 2012 have coincided with increased demands for care, particularly from the elderly, disabled and mentally ill. The researchers also noted increases in depression, alcohol-related disorders and suicides in Spain since the financial crisis hit and unemployment increased.

Spain already has one of the lowest public expenditures on healthcare for its Gross Domestic Product in the European Union. "Further cuts of €1.10 billion [$1.5B USD] are to be made this year to the dependency fund for the elderly and disabled, putting these vulnerable people even more at risk," reported the European AIDS Treatment Action Group.

Key changes made by the Spanish government include excluding undocumented immigrants from accessing free healthcare services and increasing the co-payments that patients must make for extra treatments such as drugs, prosthetics and some ambulance trips. Authorities with devolved powers in 17 regions across Spain have also been required to make further cuts, and in Madrid and Catalonia this has led to a move towards privatisation of hospitals, increases in waiting times, cutbacks in emergency services and fewer surgical procedures.

Barcelona is the capital and largest city of the autonomous region of Catalonia, which has been substantially impacted by the budget cuts to health care and research, according to speakers and attendees at AIDS Vaccine 2013, which opened Monday in Barcelona. #AIDSVax2013 is described as the "world's
leading scientific meeting on HIV vaccine research" and is attended by more
than 1,000 leading researchers, funders and policy makers.

The Spanish government contributed $5.6 million toward funding HIV vaccine research in 2009. The investment decreased to only $3.3 in 2010, according to a report co-authored by Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and UNAIDS.

The example often cited is that of Greece, which has seen HIV, TB and other disease increases since it slashed public health budgets to repay more than €230 in loans from the European Union since 2010, reports CNN.

"As a result, HIV infections have jumped by more than 200% since 2010, concentrated in injection drug users, as needle-exchange program budgets were cut in half. There was a malaria epidemic in Greece -- the largest in 40 years -- after mosquito-spraying budgets were slashed."

12 December 2011

One of the standout attractions at ICASA 2011 was the UNAIDS-sponsored "Condomize" campaign in the Global Village, their super popular t-shirts ... and the Ethio gym hottie in sagging jeans and boxer briefs demonstrating correct condom ettiquette. "What's your favorite flavor?" he asked.

Forgot his name but he was one of the star attractions at the conference. Trust.

"Condomize" is a program of the United Nations Population Fund. The goal is to de-stigmatize condom use and educate the public. The Condomize booths were very popular at ICASA 2011 and swamped with thousands of delegates. The booths were staffed with attractive, outgoing youth of all races and sexualities, who demonstrated how to make custom condoms and lubricants. Very nice.

The leaders of Ethiopia's main religious denominations faced journalists briefly. Abune Paulos, the patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church was there, along with representatives of the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council, the Roman Catholic Church, and Protestant denominations.

But before anything could be said, Ethiopia's Health Minister Tewodros Adhanom arrived and asked for a word with the religious leaders in private. After nearly an hour, the leaders left without comment. The Reverend Iteffa Gobena Molte, president of the Ethiopian Evangelical Council Mekane Yesus told reporters the event would be rescheduled.

"It's postponed to another time. And when they are ready they will call upon you to come and record them," said Iteffa. Reporters initially were told the news conference had been called to condemn a planned conference on "men who have sex with men."

The website of a group called the African Men for Sexual Health and Rights, or AMSHER, says the meeting is to be held Saturday at an Addis Ababa hotel. A list of speakers posted on the website include Michel Sidibe, director of UNAIDS, and Eric Goosby, the United States Global AIDS Coordinator.

Rev. Iteffa is the Ecumenical Envoy to the African Union, which is based here in Addis Ababa.

The MSM pre-conference was re-scheduled Saturday to a secure location at one of the United Nations compounds. Armed UN troops guarded the MSM activists and meeting. No pictures were allowed. Look for my report next week...

The publicity surrounding the incident went viral across the internet and Facebook, notes the Ethiopian Reporter, which describes the events as "an unprecedented controversy in Addis Ababa."

The Federal Republic of Ethiopia is one of at least 38 of Africa's 54 nations that currently have laws penalizing same-sex relations or even sexuality. Four nations—Mauritania, Nigeria, Somalia and Sudan—boast the death penalty for gays or same-sex activity. Prosecutions are rare but same-sex acts in Ethiopia carry penalties of imprisonment of more than ten years.

MSM criminalizations laws and homophobia are the topics of a number of sessions at the United Nations and UNAIDS-sponsored ICASA 2011. Up to ten thousand people—including former President George W. Bush—are expected at the conference that opens today in Addis Ababa.

23 November 2011

Pope Benedict XVI described the HIV/AIDS pandemic as an "ethical problem" as he presented his vision for Catholic Church's future in Africa during his second visit to the continent.

The comments were delivered in a 135-page pastoral document as His Holiness wrapped a 3-day pastoral trip the West African nation of Benin ... a heavily Catholic nation and the heartland of voodoo, reports AFP.

Changes in behaviour are needed to combat the disease, including sexual abstinence and rejection of promiscuity, it adds. "The problem of AIDS in particular clearly calls for a medical and a pharmaceutical response," it says. "This is not enough however. The problem goes deeper. Above all, it is an ethical problem."

"That echoes a comment of the pontiff's from 2009 on his first Africa trip, when he caused a global outcry when he said using condoms 'can even exacerbate' the problem of HIV/AIDS," reports Deutsche Press.

Benin's HIV rate is just 1.2 per cent. The UN AIDS programme says the prevalence of HIV in West Africa actually 'remains comparatively low...estimated at 2% or under in 12 countries in 2009.' Nigeria, a country populated by more than 150 million, has an HIV rate of just 3.6%.

Although West African countries frequently top corruption and poverty indexes, it is southern Africa that carries the weight of HIV/AIDS issues. Swaziland has [the highest rate] of HIV anywhere else in the world [at] 25.9%.

The Catholic Church's criticisms of condom use have been a lightning rod of controversy in Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to nearly 70 percent of the world's HIV cases. Aggressive prevention campaigns and condom use in Africa are "driving new cases of infection to the lowest number in years," according to a new report on the global epidemic released by UNAIDS.

The report is in advance of the upcoming United Nations and UNAIDS sponsored International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. ICASA 2011 will discuss prevention and criminalization issues around men who have sex with men. More than 10,000 people are expected to ICASA 2011 which begins December 4.